Fez's slice of the Reef aka the Waterbox 70.3 Build

Fezbearer · Sep 5, 2020

Trey said:
In the summer time here it’s pretty high. Doesn’t bother me much.

That high humidity is what kills Me.

Fezbearer · Sep 12, 2020

The snails are still kicking around in the tank after dealing with brutal temperatures and the apartment being more or less sealed up for the past week due to all the junk in the air. That said, let week I bought my first first two fish for the tank. Getting a QTed caramel and gladiator clown through Ocean Devotion. Owner sent me pics. I can't wait.

Fezbearer · Sep 13, 2020

For a few weeks, I've felt that the tank needed one more structure in it to help the fish have areas to hide. To that end....

I had an extra mug from my local tikibar.

Originally I was going to shatter part of the base and build and cement the mug to the rockwork, but the mug breaking the mug cleanly was pretty hard, so I opted for a change of plan. I'm going to create a base for the bottom of the mug and cement the mug to it. I'm also going to create a slightly larger support structure for the top of the mug and cement the two together.

Fezbearer · Oct 1, 2020

Added the mug to the aquarium, It ended up being a bit taller than originally planned since I wanted another arch.

Fezbearer · Oct 6, 2020

After months of playing the waiting game, the first two fish for the tank are here.

Had to float them in the DT while I got the QT/Hospital tank salinity matched with the shipping water. The caramel is pretty chill. After the initial freak out from getting placed in the tank mostly keeps to one half of the tank. The gladiator seems to have a routine where she swims from cross corners a couple of times and them swims in from of the power head and lets the flow carry her across the tank.

Fezbearer · Oct 8, 2020

The hospital tank is on the other side of the table from where I’m doing remote teaching so I get to watch the fish while teaching. The Gladiator will eat pretty much anything. The caramel is fine with crushed pellets and brine shrimp. Blood worms are scary though, and must be hidden from. He is also in love with his pipe, (yeah yeah.)

Fezbearer · Oct 12, 2020

Busy Weekend

On Saturday, I got the salinity in the observation to match the display tank so my clowns got moved into their new home. They seem to favor the left side of the tank, though the gladiator likes to strut around on the front of the tank whenever she sees me. Pretty sure she's still harboring a grudge from being separated from their favorite pipe in the observation tank.

Sump update...Originally, I had planned on using a small drilled box in the main area of the sump as a refugium. I did this few weeks ago, but wasn't satisfied. Yesterday, while I was at my semi favorite LFS it hit me. I picked up a small piece of egg crate and wrapped it with some legs over netting from my DIY lid. The result isn't pretty, but it works.

Fezbearer · Oct 26, 2020

You seek the forbbiden idol, glittering gold. It is yours.

Fezbearer · Oct 31, 2020

All quiet on the tank front. I have a wrasse and watchman goby going through QT right now. The clowns have thankfully decided that the powerhead isn't a suitable host for them. They've moved over to the tiki mug instead. My female clown spends most of her time inside the mug unless she sees me coming with food. The male goes inside every so often, but usually spends his time underneath the mug. He's allowed in until nighttime when he gets chased out. I guess that's the clownfish equivalent on hogging all the bedsheets.

Fezbearer · Nov 1, 2020

Got bored this afternoon, so after dropping off my ballot and going grocery shopping, I decided to make some DIY fish food. I used scallops, oysters, tuna, freeze dried krill and brine shrimp. I froze the fish and oysters so I could throw them into the food processor. While they were freezing, I put the krill in the processor and hit pulse a few times to cut them into smaller pieces. added some selcon and freezedried brine shrimp, mixed them up, and then placed them in a mixing tray. Waited an hour or so for the fish to freeze and then threw them into the food processor. Mixed it all up in the tray and then bagged it.

Fezbearer · Nov 11, 2020

Doing my water change today, and noticed that the coralline algae is is starting to become noticeable.

Fezbearer · Nov 16, 2020

Frakk, lost the gladiator today. Did a water change earlier and noticed her floating against the powerhead. Caramel is staying near his sleeping rock, though he'll swim into her tiki mug every so often.

guntercb · Nov 16, 2020

Sorry you lost a clown. I like the Tiki mug!

Fezbearer · Nov 24, 2020

guntercb said:
Sorry you lost a clown. I like the Tiki mug!

Thanks, its from my local tiki bar.

Fezbearer · Nov 24, 2020

Added two more first to the tank. The carpenter's wrasse and my watchman goby. The watchman goby is currently relaxing in the acclimation box. The wrasse decided that he wasn't going to have any of that and jumped into the main DT. had to grab the lid real quick as he looked like he was getting ready to get airborne again. He's currently chilling out in the corner.

Fezbearer · Dec 1, 2020

Evidently my finger is the top fish in the tank. I noticed the wrasse was flashing and buzzing the clown a couple of times last Friday. Out of habit I pointed my finger at him and dropped the dog trainer voice and told him to knock it off. Wrasse swam in about 5 directions at once and then decided to hide in the back of the tank. He's been a lot more chill to the clown ever since, though he's not happy with me and tends to skulk in the rocks when he sees me watching the tank. I'll admit I kinda feel bad that he's probably a little scared of me, but I'd rather he's a bit skittish with me than harassing the clown. Dude still eats like a pig.

Fezbearer · Jan 11, 2021

Due to the holidays, there hasn’t been much work done on the tank apart from water changes and testing. This week, however, has been a flurry of activity. After doing my WC, I received new stock who are currently chilling in the QT tank. The gramma nearly gave me a heart attack when they got dropped in as it floated into the corner a didn’t move for a few minutes. Turned the power head towards the corner and it decided to sulk under the pvc pipe. It’s also managed to stuff itself behind the compartment on the powerhead that contains the motor. Beaty of a fish, but it

It’s been a slow month, so apart from routine WCs, not much has been done. That said, my Top lids finally arrived, and it looks great.

Fezbearer · Jan 19, 2021

I received a gladiator clown and royal gramma while ago, and finally put them in the DT. The gladiator hung out near my caramel, though now that its time for bed, He’s swimming in a corner.

The royal gramma swam around the tank and is currently hiding in the back of the tank. I have the lights lowered to help with his stress, so I don’t really have a good pic of him.

Fezbearer · Jan 20, 2021

One of the benefits of working from home right now is being able to watch the tank and see how the new fish are interacting with each other. The gladiator is swimming with my caramel about 2/3s of the time and going solo the rest of it. There has been some squabbling with the caramel asserting dominance. The Royal Gramma spent the first day playing dead ink the corner and watching everything. It has now found a couple of caves and alternates floating between the two. Then there is my carpenter's wrasse aka "the jerk." He's pretty much left the gramma alone. He flashed it once and the gramma faced him and opened his mouth real wide. He's pretty much left the gramma alone since. He keeps his distance from the clowns when they're together, but gets near the gladiator flashes for a bit then swims away really quickly. What's funny, is he runs and hides when I'm near the tank.